Tiger Woods is in sight of his third win of the year - and the World No 1 ranking - after taking a two-shot lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Saturday.
Woods: Can anyone stop him?
Woods produced a quality six-under-par 66 in the third round at Bay Hill to take his total to 11 under par and hit the front, and was the main benificiary of overnight leader Justin Rose's poor back nine performance, which saw him drop three shots on the way back in.
Rose isn't out of it yet, however - his third-round 72 leaves him tied for second place on nine under, two back, alongside Rickie Fowler, who shot a 67, and John Huh, who had a 71.
But considering the form Woods has been in so far this year, and his incredible record in the tournament, he will take some stopping in Sunday's final round.
Woods had four birdies and a bogey in Saturday's third round, and capped it all off with a superb eagle at the par-five 16th to really drive home the advantage.
Should he win his eighth Arnold Palmer Invitational title on Sunday, he will also overtake Rory McIlroy at the top of the world rankings for the first time since October 2010.
The 37-year-old played down his record at Bay Hill, however, and was quick to point out that the job was far from over. Rose has been in very solid form all year, and Fowler's six-birdie-one-bogey performance on Saturday also suggests he is far from a spent force.
"Just because I've won here doesn't ensure that I'm going to win the tournament," Woods said. "The conditions are different. The game might be different. But the objective is still to put myself in position to win the golf tournament and somehow get it done on Sunday. Over the course of my career, I've done a pretty decent job of that."
Reflecting on his form in the past year after a lengthy winless period, Woods said: "It was one of my goals to get back to that position after being out of the top 50 there for a while, being hurt and having all my points come off when I couldn't play. That was not a fun stretch. But I had to get healthy in order to compete, and so far I've had five wins. So I'm heading in the right direction."
Thorbjorn Olesen (66) is among a group of five players on eight under, three shots back, none of whom can be discounted. The others are Gonzalo Fernandez Castano (68), Jimmy Walker (70), Ken Duke (70) and Bill Haas (73).
Keegan Bradley is four back on seven under after a 66, and a hot round on Sunday could see him have an impact as well.
golf365.com